How to Make My Wood Stove Hotter

A single wood stove can heat up a small home. (Image: Jupiterimages/BananaStock/Getty Images)

Wood stoves often can heat a room more efficiently than a modern fireplace. Just placing wood in the stove isn't enough to ensure maximum heat output. To increase the amount of heat coming from the stove, you must pay attention to the room temperature, the wood being used, and the amount of oxygen mixing with your fire. There are also additional items that can be installed or placed within the wood stove to ensure maximum heat output.

Allow the room where the wood burning stove is located to cool off to 70 degrees Fahrenheit or lower. Heat transfers to cold air easier than to warm air.

Remove all ashes from the inside of the wood burning stove. Ash buildup restricts the amount of oxygen that enhances the fire.

Insert a fireback made of sheet metal in the back of the wood burning stove. The fireback behaves like a radiator; the metal heats up and radiates the heat back into the room. Firebacks are available online and at fireplace specialty stores and home improvement stores.

Select well-seasoned, dry hardwood. Wet wood mixes with the fire to create steam, which will extinguish the combustion. Chopped wood should sit in a dry area for at least one year before being used in the wood stove.

Set at least three logs in the wood burning stove. Make sure to stack them loosely to encourage airflow between the logs.

Turn the draft control down to decrease the amount of air. The more air allowed into the firebox, the quicker the fire will burn. The draft control is a rotating or sliding device located in the ash cleanout or firebox door. A small flame means that you've turned the draft control down too much. In this case, adjust the draft control to increase the flame.

Add a piece of firewood to the fire every 15 minutes instead of allowing the fire to die down completely. When the fire is allowed to die down, it takes a considerable amount of time for the wood to catch fire and produce the heat.

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Install a combustion blower on the firebox door. The blower will raise the temperature of the stove automatically as the room begins to cool, and it can be controlled by your home's thermostat. Combustion blowers are available online and at fireplace specialty stores and home improvement stores.